Old Mr. Schilter had a farm. . . .

And on his farm he had some. . . ponies. With a neigh, neigh here and a neigh, neigh there. Old Mr. Schilter had a farm. . . and on his farm he had some goats. . . with an oink, oink here. . . and a moo, moo there. . . . here, a meow, there a meow. . .(the meow's were the favorite) Old Mr. Schilter had a farm. . .

. . .and everyone had a great time!

An afternoon at the beach.

What's the first thing you thought of when you read the title. Sand? Sun? Swimming in the waves? Well, the beaches in Washington are very different from those beach images. The weather here is quite temperate. Not too hot, but not to cold. Which in turn causes the water to stay quite chilly. At least too cold for this momma to ever go for a dip. So a day at the beaches on Puget Sound are a little different than your traditional sand castle experience. Princess was posed and ready. She has her bag along for any pretty rocks she may want to collect. Also in the bag is a plastic container, during berry season you have to be prepared. You never know when you'll come across a good berry patch.The General mostly enjoys looking under rocks for crabs or other little critters. He has so much fun exploring. Notice the Olympic Mountains in the background. I think that is my favorite part, all the beauty that surrounds us. This time Bubby thought rock skipping was the best. The whole beach is actually lots and lots of pebbles and rocks. You find some of the best skippers. Mr. Nomad is a pro. He can get as many as 7 or 8 skips out of a good rock. I, on the other hand, sadly struggle to get mine to skip once or twice.We had so much fun checking everything out. I look forward to many more hikes down to the Sound. Notice all the islands in the background? Puget Sound on a map looks like a big open area of water. When in fact it is full of little, and sometimes not so little, islands and inlets. As you can see it is very beautiful.

We weren't the only explorers at the beach on that day. It seems this sea otter was just as curious about us. He was so funny. He slowly came over to where we were playing. Then he would bob up and down, trying to get higher in the water for a closer look at those crazy humans who kept taking pictures of him. I hope we get to see him on our next visit.

And the clock struck twelve. . .

So much for the Princess gig. It is back to reality today. A little laundry. (Dawn, do you think your sock lady would like to help me out?) A little toy pick up. A little schooling.

A lot of Bubby.

Oh, I guess reality isn't so bad after all!

Sometimes I like to pretend I'm a Princess.

I am the type of girl that likes to do yard work. Dirt and mud do not scare me, as long as I have access to a shower after the experience. Here I am with The General, Princess and a couple of neighborhood girls that saw us moving rocks and wanting to join in. Go figure, kids like to work?
Notice the hat? It's because I hadn't showered and my hair cannot be displayed in public without a little coiffing. My children just don't deserve that kind of humiliation.
As much as I like yard work, hiking, and just staying in my jammies til late in the day. Sometimes it is so much fun to get all dressed for a night out with Mr. Nomad.


Which made last night such a treat. Some very kind people (we casually knew them last time we lived here) invited us to a gala event. I actually thought I was going to have to go solo, as Mr. Nomad was off on another trip. Then around noon I got a call from him, and he said he would be home in time to take me to the ball. I cried. I know that is so silly, but I was so happy.

So last night Mr. Nomad and I were blessed to have a beautiful evening out. We were able to make a few more connections in our new community, and it was a lot of fun. Poor Mr. Nomad had been up for over 24 hours, what a sport. I think I would have begged to stay home and go to bed. He's so good to me.

How embarassing!

Okay blogger friends. I know some of you may not know me well, and think that if you pointed out my errors I would be horribly embarrassed and think you were rude. That couldn't be further from the truth. I am one of those people that greatly appreciates the friend that points out the spinach stuck between my teeth. Granted, I do like the correction to be kind. Mean spirited making fun is not what I have in mind. Oh, and of course discretion is also appreciated. So now that we've got that cleared up. . .

I was just giving The General his spelling words. (I know, most 7th graders don't do spelling, but he's weird and likes it. Who am I to deny him?) Well, pseudonym was one of his words to spell today. When he asked me what it meant, I quickly googled the word to give him an exact definition. Here's what I found: pseudonym n. A fictitious name, especially a pen name.

What is the big deal? Why is that important? I just realized this whole time on my blog side bar, I had written that I'd given my children pseudo names. Very nice home school lady, it should be: I have given my children pseudonyms. Yep, I home school my children. Such a proud day for Mrs. Nomad.

On the up side. . .(the other thing you need to know about me. I'm a hopeless, or shall I say hopeful, optimist) this is exactly why I love teaching my children. I learn new things all the time, and I LOVE IT!

Okay, now I'm totally confused. As I'm spell checking this post, Lord only knows I don't want to misspell words and further my humiliation, psuedo name comes up as a correctly spelled word. So what is the story here masters of the English language? Have I been a bone head, or not?

I love a great deal!

Today I am smiling ear to ear. Apparently the landscaping company that put in all of the trees on the boulevards put in the wrong species of trees. Something about the beautiful flaming maples' roots causing problems with the sidewalks in 5-10 years, or something like that. Whatever the case, they had to replace the maples with another type of tree. The new ones are pretty too, so nothing lost on the curb appeal.

Okay, this is where my smile comes in. They took out the maples along the street, and for a fraction of what you would spend on one tree, they planted two of them in my backyard! Yep, they even staked them for me. I am so excited. TWO, count them, TWO trees! They are even good sized trees, at least 15-20 feet. I can't wait to show Mr. Nomad.

Oh yea, I forgot to mention I had to make a snap decision. I hope he is as excited as I am. Just in case he doesn't share my enthusiasm, does anyone have a dog house for me to crash for a few days?

Happy Birthday Jody Blue

This is my sister Jody and I back in 2004. Sadly it is one of very few pictures I have of my sister and I together. Since we live so far apart, our visits are far too few. When we do finally get together we are so busy, we forget to take pictures of the two of us. Now if you could photograph the two of us on the phone. . .we'd be in business.
Today is Jody's birthday. Since I'm not as crafty with words as Jody or ABM, I've been searching the web for the perfect quote or poem to pay tribute to my sister on her special day. How do you find a poem or short quote that sums up this relationship? You see, my Jody isn't just a big sister. She is my soul mate. She is my cheerleader, my confidant. Jody is the one person in the world that knows EVERYTHING about me, and loves me just the same.

Over the years she has mentored me as a mother. Oh, my children are so lucky she was there for me. Mr. Nomad used to give me a hard time, "You didn't really call your sister and complain did you? We have ONE child, she has FIVE!" Yet my sister would listen, offer advice and help me through. Never making me feel like the idiot I was. I only hope I can mentor young mothers with as much empathy and grace as my sister mentored me.

She has provided an example of a Godly wife. Never does she jump on the "men are jerks" band wagon. Rather there is thought of how to make things better, how to examine my actions and contributions. Always, always there is prayer. My marriage has been blessed by this influence.

Most of all my sister has always prayed for my soul. When I was a young teen floundering in life, Jody came to know our Lord. Her sharing of her love and devotion to Christ made a huge impact on who I am today. She didn't just want a great relationship in this life time, she had her eye on our eternal happiness.

So Happy Birthday Jody, thank you for being the greatest big sister a girl could ask for.

A test for my readers. . .

Did you notice I decorated for Halloween? The header picture was taken last year before the Nomad Clan headed out for Trick-Or-Treating. Here's the test: Although it may not seem that we are all dressed in the same theme, we are. How do our costumes go together?

The in-laws are here, the in-laws are here!

To most people, this would ellicit screams of panic, fear, frustration. . . Not at the Nomad pad. God has blessed me with FABULOUS in-laws. Over the years they have provided a great example of a godly marriage for Mr. Nomad and I to follow. They have endlessly showered us with love, prayer, and many acts of kindness.

Acts of kindness currently under progress here: My mother-in-law has painted my bedroom, the powder room and the island in the kitchen. My father in-law and brother-in-law helped Mr. Nomad organize the garage and build a work bench. Up next is refinishing a couple pieces of furniture, repainting the island (the orange just doesn't flow with the counter top) and maybe constructing some storage racks in the garage.

So that is where I have been, and I'll probably be busy until they leave next week. It is all so exciting. When they pull out of my drive, my house will be mostly complete. No longer will I be fretting about. I can finally just sit back and enjoy. . .okay reality check. I can really get started with homeschooling, running kiddos to Scouts, ballet, piano lessons, Bible study. You know the drill.